Pediatrics and Leprosy Hospital

I spent my last week at the CMC on the Pediatrics ward. I was told to report to the wards on the 5th floor at 8am. I got there on time and of course nobody was available to tell me what to do. So I waited and waited and finally someone from Team II showed up and told me to follow her on rounds.

The ward wasn’t far different from the other floors I had been in. It still had the flimsy curtains with no privacy for the patients. Moms usually joined their children in their cribs since there was no where else to sit. The parents were officially quiet for being in a pediatric ward. You would hear the occasional child screaming in agony but it was a lot quieter than I expected. The moms tried their best to keep their kids quiet as well. It felt like it was almost taboo or embarrassing to them if their child showed any signs of discomfort.

Most of my time on this ward I spent sitting in a corner waiting for someone to make some use of me. The residents were busy running around and not taking much time to explain to me what was going on in the wards. They were not the happy-go-lucky pediatricians I was use to working with in the states. The kids did have interesting diagnoses though. I saw one bed with a kid with a scorpion sting to the cheek, another kid had dengue, and two kids had HLH, which I had no clue what that was.

The team eventually began to round and it was the usual speak fast and soft rounding method. I couldn’t hear anything the residents were saying for the life of me and they spent most of their time directing their presentation to the attending. Occasionally I would realize that the team would get really quiet and look in my direction. This usually met they had asked me a question but since I couldn’t hear them I never knew that they were talking to me. The attending even started pimping me, so I decided to leave since I really didn’t feel like being pimped. Also I wasn’t too impressed with the experience so I was excited to get out of their anywhere.

My 2nd day on the ward wasn’t any better than the 1st. It was probably a bit worse. One of the residents gave a case presentation on meconium-stained birth. It was basically a pimping session where the poor resident had to basically read the attendings mind to figure out what the attending was asking.
Basically my experience on the pediatric ward, which I had been looking forward to during my whole time at CMC was a bit of a bore. It was way too serious and disorganized for my liking.

The next day Collin, Aruna, Erica, myself, Nicolette, Seema, and a medical student from St Louis went to Karigari to see the CMC facility there. This is where Vellore famous Leprosy hospital is located. Before this facility use to only hold leprosy patients. But now it functions as another inpatient facility for patients apart from leprosy patients. I believe the facility was first opened in 1955.

We were all a bit disappointed with our trip to Karigari. We thought we were going to be able to interact with leprosy patients 4and get to see some of the therapy the facility provides for its patients there. Instead, we got a walk and point tour by one of the facilities workers. She showed us the different departments of the facility. We got only a quick glimpse at the leprosy patients. She showed us their research facilities where they work with mice foot pads to grow the leprosy bacteria. We also stopped by a shop run by the facility. There they sell gifts and souvenirs made by leprosy patients who were taught these skills during their stay at Karigari. Profits made by this shop go back to the enhancement of Karigari. I bought some table clothes and pillow cases for some of my friends in the US since I knew the proceeds were going to a good cause.

We then made a visit to Kadapadi, which houses the outpatient facility associated with Karigari. There we were introduced to occupational therapist that gave us a step-by-step demonstration of his diabetic foot care education speech. He stated that patients are encouraged to soak their feet once a day in water for 30 minutes. After that they should use a plummer stone to scrub off all the excess skin on their sole. Then they are told to exfoliate their feet with oil. This method helps prevent dangerous foot ulcers.

1) This is when a autoricksaw driver let Erica drive the autoricksaw.
2) This is a picture from the shoe-making facility at Karigari. These shoes are made out of a special microcellular rubber. They are specially made for both the leprosy and diabetes patients.
3) More shoe making.
4) Examples of the prostheses they make for the leprosy patients that have lost limbs.
5) Us getting a tour of the facility at Karigari.
6) My last week in India was spent traveling through North India. My week of travel began with meeting Neha and Ruchi, two of our classmates, in Bombay. This picture was from a restaurant we went to upon arrival in Bombay. The food there was really good. Probably the best I had during my whole trip to India.
7) During our first night in Bombay, we went to a local club called the Hawaiian Shack. It was surprisingly very fun. The DJ was on point and played a lot of old school rap songs. They also would mix Hindi beats with hip hop beats, which I thought was pretty cool. We left the club when they started playing techno.
8) This is a picture of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Bombay. It is one of the most expensive hotels in India. I think it cost about $300 to $500 a night. It was really nice inside.
9) This is me in front of the Gateway to India, also located in Bombay. It was under construction when we went to see. It use to be an import/export port site when India was under British rule.